The Argentine government of Javier Milei decided on February 22 to close the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (Inadi), presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced in a press conference.
“The decision has been taken to proceed with the dismantling of institutes that serve absolutely no purpose, such as Inadi,” said Adorni. The Milei government spokesman also questioned the “suitability” of those who run certain government institutes and considered them to be “political pigeon holes or places to generate activist jobs.”
Created in 1995 by the Law on Discriminatory Acts, Inadi is a decentralized government body linked to the Argentine Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and aims to draw up national policies to combat “all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and racism.”
The agency, with offices throughout the country and 400 employees, receives an average of 2,500 complaints of discrimination a year, according to its latest report. The majority come from the labor or education sector, and are based on physical disability, sexual orientation or gender.
In November 2023, INADI launched a new communication channel for complaints via Whatsapp, which allowed people to request advice on situations of discrimination and ask for information on the training offered by the organization.
Since taking office on December 10, the ultra-liberal president has fired thousands of state employees and not renewed another 10,000 contracts, as well as paralyzing federally-funded public works across the country with the aim of cutting public spending.
This article was translated from an article originally published on Brasil de Fato.
